Booster case disposal device



June 27, 1961 A, SAMMS 2,990,149

BOOSTER CASE DISPOSAL DEVICE Filed July '7, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 :El "I/ 251-12- June 27, 1961 A. SAMMS BOOSTER CASE DISPOSAL DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 7, 1960 INVENTOR. Aduphus Samana BY fj @aaa @JQ/wmf y 2,990,149 BOOSTER CASE DISPOSAL DEVICE Adolphus Samms, Yuma, Filed July 7, 1960, Ser. No. 41,454 2 Claims. (Cl. 244-138) (Granted under |llitle 35, U.S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty.

This invention relates to a booster case disposal device, and more particularly to a means for slowing down the rate of descent of a booster case which has been spent and is separated from a missile (not shown) to which it is originally connected, in order to prevent it from fall-ing to the ground with hard impact.

The ever increasing danger from falling spent missile booster cases is well recognized, and the present invention is designed to protect earthbound creatures and property from being struck by these falling articles, as well as to aid in the recovery of missile components that otherwise might be destroyed by impact from the fall.

The present invention consists of a series of rotor blades pivoted to a rotating ring carried by -a missile boost- -er case and held in folded position against the said case by a plurality of wires until the booster case is separated lower a spent booster case gently to the ground to protect earthbound life and property.

Another object is to release a series of rotor blades which are held in folded position on a booster case so that they may be pulled into a flight position for auto rotation earthward.

A further object is to incorporate mechanism in each blade that will rotate the blade into its proper flight pitch upon its release from its folded position.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to It is a still further object to provide a means of locking l the blades in their extended auto rotation position.

It is to be understood that the invention is not confined to lower spent booster cases only, but it has `a wide field of applications, such as lowering cargo, personnel, etc. from aircraft while in flight.

Variations and modification may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concept of the present invention.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a missile booster case, the blades of the invention being in stowed or folded position and showing the wires after severance from the missile but still looped around the blades;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmental side view of the device, a portion of the blade being broken away to expose the mechanism for rotating the blade;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional detail taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional detail view taken along line 4 4 of FIGURE 2 and showing the detents being spread apart;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the operating parts of the device;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional detail showing the locking 2,990,149 Patented June 27, 1961 2 means, the view being taken -along line 6-6 of FIGURE 3; and,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention for use with helicopter blades, parts of the blades and propelling shaft being in phantom.

Referring to the drawing, reference character 1 indi- Cates a booster case for a missile and is provided with a rotatable ring 2 which is mounted for free rotation on the booster case near the upper portion thereof 1as is best viewed in FIGURE 1. Ring 2 carries the device of the invention which consists of a series of folding rotor blade assemblies, two being shown in FIGURE l, although as many as is practical may be mounted on the ring 2.

Each assembly consists of a pair of brackets 3 secured on the peripheral surface of the rotating ring 2 by suitable means such as screws 4 or the like.

A rotor blade 5 is pivotally mounted on brackets 3 by means of 4a shaft 6 which has its upper end held in brackets 3 by means of pin 7.

Shaft 6 is provided with an outwardly protruding fiat faced stop member 8 to abut ilat faced stops 9 on each bracket 3 when the blade 5 is in fully extended flight position, as best seen in FIGURE 3, to limit the pivotal movement of shaft 6.

An integral, axially disposed lug 10 is provided on the terminal end of shaft 6 and is provided with a transverse bore 11 to receive a pair of locking detents 12 (see FIG- URE 6) each of which is biased by a spring 13 in a pair of diametrically opposed housings 14. Lug 1 0 is further provided with a double beveled forward edge 15 so that it will abut beveled faces 16 on locking detents 12 and spread them apart. When the shaft 6 is swung lal1 the way into the flight position the detents 12 will snap into bore 11 and lock the shaft 6 in its fully extended position as shown in broken lines in FIGURE 3.

Means for rotating blade 5 into its proper pitch for the descent flight of the booster case is provided in the blade and consists of `a suitable housing 17 which may be secured in the inner end of blade 5 or cast integral therewith. It has an open end, which is closed by a threaded cap 18, through which shaft 6 extends into the housing 1,7, as is seen in FIGURE 2. The housing 17 and the blade 5 rotate as a unit.

Shaft 6 extends fully into housing 17 and is provided with an integrally formed guide rod 19 at its outer portion having longitudinal extending, diametrically opposed integral keys 20 (see FIGURE 5). A piston 21 having an .axial bore 22 "and diametrically opposed keyways 23 is adapted to be slidably mounted on guide rod 19. A roller 24 is. carried on the peripheral surface of piston 21 and normally rides in a cam slot 25 in housing 17. Slot 25 is curved as is necessary to provide the proper rotae tion of piston 21 to provide the necessary pitch of blade 5 for lift.

Piston 21 is normally biased inwardly of housing 17 by a coil spring 26 abutting cap 18.

When the booster is spent, it will detach itself from the missile and the cable (not shown) carried by the missile and connected to the gathered ends of the wires 27, 28 becomes taught and causes the said wires to also become taught. The wire 28 which leads to the locking pin 29 of a connector 30, yanks the pin from the connector causing the free ends of a bail wire 31 wrapped around the booster case to become separated. The blades 5 which were previously held in folded position by the bail wire 31 are then released and are pulled in their extended position by the wires 27 which are connected to the blades at advantageous points thereof such as at 42. The device is now in ight position which position occurs as soon as the cable connecting the wires to the missile becomes consumed, yanked out of the missile or is otherwise detached from the missile.

As soon as the blades 5 clear the walls of booster case 1, coil spring 26 will push piston 2 outwardly Yalong the keys 20 and roller 24 riding in cam slot 25 will cause jhousing 1-7 and -blades 5 to rotate into the predetermined pitch for auto rotation ofthe blades 5 earthward.

When the shaft 6 is rotated into its fully extended position, beveled edges on lug 10 will abut kbeveled faces `ranged in tiers or otherwise expeditiously placed.

A whistle indicated at 32 may be attached to the outer end of each blade S for the purpose of warning personnel on the earth of the approaching containers so that they may seek cover, or for the purpose of locating the device.

FIGURE 7 shows a modified' form of the device for use with blades of the non folding type, one blade and the propelling shaft being shown only for illustrative purl pose.

The housing 17, cam slot 25 and roller 24 are shown, and these elements of the assembly are the sa-me as in the previously described mechanism, but the mechanism to rotate the blade is modified.

In this modification, a cylinder 33 is integral with a shaft 38 which radiates from a hub 39 on a propelling shaft 40 of a helicopter propelling unit. Housing 17 is the same as in the device described-previously, and also has the helical groove 2S in its wall. A piston 21a is slidable in housing 17 and a rolier 24 carried thereby rides in the groove 25 as does the device of FIGURES 1-6. Piston 21a is integrally connected to a shaft 35 whichin .turn is connected to a piston 34 slidable in cylinder 33.

Conduits 36 and 37 provide inlets and outlets for supplying uid for operating piston 34. These conduits may be arranged in any expeditious manner that wild not interfere with the rotation of blade 5, as blade 5 is arranged to rotate about cylinder 33 and is fixed to housing 17 for rotation therewith.

In operation, fluid from a source, not shown, may be introduced into cylinder 33 through inlet 36 whereby pis ton 34 will` move piston 21a outward, and at the same time, move piston in housing 17. Roller 24 in slot 17 will cause housingl 17 and blade 5 to rotate into the desired pitch.

It is to be understood that although the forms of the invention herewith shown and described, are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

on said booster case, aseries of shafts pivotally mounted at one of their ends on said rings for pivoted movement from a folded position abutting the wall of said case to an extended position substantially to the longitudinal axis of said case, a rotor blade rotatably mounted on the other end of said shafts, releasable means for securing said blades in said folded position, said means comprising a first wire encircling said blades, a connector releasably holding' the ends of said first wire, a pin for separating said connector, a second wire connected to said pin and at least a third wire connected to said blade whereby when said second and third wires are pulled, said connector will separate said first wire and said third Wire will pull said blade into an extended flight position, means housed in each blade adapted to automatically rotate its respective blade into a predetermined pitch upon release of and clearance from said case of said blades, said last named means comprising a housing having a curved groove in the inner end of each blade, said housing being adapted to rotate as a unit with its respective blade, each housing receiving the outer end of one of said shafts, a pair of diametrically opposed, integral keys on the outer end of each shaft, a piston having a pair of keyways slidably mounted on said shaft, said keyways receiving said keys on said shaft, a roller attached to said piston adapted to ride in said groove and a spring normally biasing said piston outwardly in said housing.

2. A booster case disposal device comprising in combination, a booster case, a ring mounted for free rotation thereon, a plurality of shafts, a rotor blade rotatably mounted on the outer end of each shaft, a pair of brackets xed on said ring for pivotally mounting the inner end of each shaft whereby each shaft and its respective blade is movable from a folded position to an extended flight position, Ia at faced stop carried by the upper side of each bracket, an outwardly protruding flat faced stop on each shaft adapted to abut said flat faced stop on each bracket for limiting said shaft and blade in the aforesaid extended iiight position, means housed in the inner portion of each blade adapted to automatically rotate said blade into a predetermined pitch upon clearance of said blade from said booster case, and locking means carried by each shaft and said brckets to hold said shaft and blade in the aforesaid iiight position, said means comprising diametrically opposed housings fixed, one each, on each bracket, a spring biased detent slidably mounted in each housing, said detents being beveled at their outer and facing ends and a double beveled lug integral with the inner end of each shaft, said lug having a transverse bore therein, said lug `acting, to spread said detents apart when said shaft is rotated into said flight position, and said detents to snap into said bore when said shaft is fully in said flight position to lock said shaft in the last named position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,416,541 Olman Feb. 25, 1947 2,509,481 Crise May 30, 1950 2,526,451 Benson Oct. 1'7, 1950 2,547,037 Morelock Apr. 3, 1951 2,654,352() Schmid Oct. 6, 1953 OTHER REFERENCES Flight Magazine, lune 27, 1952, Issue No. 2266, volume No. LXI. (Pages 774-775.) 

